Sometimes, it can be fun to take a break from your genealogy research and spend a few minutes having some fun with genealogy concepts. This is especially true when something is frustrating you! I find it amusing to write haiku poems about things that frustrate me. It’s a nice stress release, and it often gives me something to laugh about. It changes my mood, and let’s me get back to work.
A haiku poem is an excellent way to have some fun with words. The subject matter can be anything you want it to be, including your favorite hobby, genealogy. Traditionally, haiku poems were written about nature, and the changing of seasons. More modern subjects include technology, life in general, or whatever is frustrating the poet in the moment he or she writes the haiku poem.
All haiku have three lines. The first line must contain five syllables, no more, and no less. The second line needs to have seven syllables. The third, and final line, requires five syllables. Sometimes, I add titles to the haiku I write, and sometimes I don’t. The act of writing a haiku often feels like a fun word game. Their brevity inspires new ways to put together language. What will you write in haiku? Here are a few I have written about genealogy. I put numbers between the lines, to make it easier for people who are new to haiku to count the syllables.
(1) All family trees (2) Will have a few nuts in them (3) So, don’t be surprised….
(1)What time is it now? (2) Oh, that clock must be broken. (3) I just got started!
(1) My struggle finding (2)Ancestors is not that bad (3) Think of those named “Smith”!
(1) I’ve found the “brick wall” (2) And here, I shall bang my head (3) Can’t find that record!
(1) Genealogy (2) Means that I seek dead people (3) They’re hiding from me
(1) My tombstone will say: (2) “Her work was never finished… (3) Much to her delight!”
Image by Tom Martin on Flickr